Molding apparatus.



n.1. THOMPSON.

` MOLDING APPARTUS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 3l, 1914.

QN QUEDE@ EDEGEM NEEDED l Witnesses l`Attorneys.` i

I A THOMPSON., Momma APPARATUS. 1 APPLlcAlon mtu :uw ai. 19H. Patent'd s SMEETLSMET 3.

UNITED STATES rrniv'r oFFicE.

\ HannY J.- THOMPSON, or NEW Yonx, n. Y.

notiamo APPARATUS.

To all fwh'omt maja] concern:

nBe it known that I, Hanny J, Trioairsorn,

a citizen of tlicI United States, residing at New York, `inthecounty ofNeW York and State of New lYork, have invented a new and useful Molding Apparatus, of Which the following isa specification. f

The present invention relates to improvements in molding apparatus, and more especially to an apparatus for molding from paper pulp or fiber articles prov'ided with a plurality of cup shaped members, one 'object of tlieinvcntion being the provision of means whereby the fiber is causedto adhere to the surface of the male molding member `and by means of rwhich the same is released `therefrom when between the male and` female molding members, the release effect being exerted equally `upon each of the cup shaped members of the fabric so as to release the" same from the surface of the male member without tearing or distorting the fabric.

In molding various `shapes from ber, either newspaper or wood pulp, it has been a difiicult matter to remove tlie` completed member from ,either the female or male mold Without destroying the fabric, for the reason that the `fabric is so soft and plastic and also for the reason that the cu shaped, male or female member is not readi y withdrawn due tothe sliding adhering action themold' has to a certain (portion of the cup of the fabric that tends to prevent the eas drawal. It has been found in practice, that the best, poible method of releasing the molded fabric from the male member to which it has the greatest tendency to adhere, is' to` perforate the member so thatl an air blast may be delivered from the cup yshaped `portion thereof at vthe sides and against the molded -fabric, the malermember being withdrawn only a slight. distance from the` femalermember so that the; air will have only" the necessary pushing action against the fabric Without distorting or tearingl it. In practice, the distance necessa 1 to erform the desired disengagement o the ber from the male member is not over one thirtysecond of an inch; `that `the male member isv moved that distance after cooperation with the female member. In directing vtheair blast against the molded article for the purpose of stripping it-fom the female mold member, it has been yfound'necessary, in orderto'eli'ect a cleanaseparation of the article from the mold member, to first direct the with- Speicilcation of Letters Patent. Patented July24, `1917, appncatimaiea July si, 1914.. semi Nqifssaasv.

air blast against the 'open endportion of the molded article and iii the direction of the opposite end of said varticle so that theartic e will be stripped progressively from one it end toward the other` thereof. In this manner, `danger of ruptiiringrthe article or distorting it is eliminated'and quick andclean separation of the article from the male member of the mold is insured. Thep'erforated portions of the male members not Monly act as air blast directinlg means but also permit air to be sucked t erethrough to suck or draw the fiber againstsuch member to coat the surface thereof before the same 'ispro erly molded in the.. vfemale member. T efemale mold is Vdesigned to have limparted thereto a half revolution so as to present the upper mold receiving surface upside: down in a horizontal plane and thus permit the completed fabric to falltherefrom with the view which will appear as the description proceeds, the' invention resides in the combination and arrangement of partsand in the details of onstriictlon hereinafter described and claimed, it being vunderstood that changes 1n the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be `made within the-scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawingsi Figure I is an end elevation showin the complete apparatus, the male member eing' in the position it assumes just priorwto the introductionwithin the vat' or after having been removed therefrom and before bein moved to coperate with the female mold` member. l i i Fig 2 is atop plan view showing the greater portion of',` the mechanism Jas illustrated in Fig. 1,.-some of the levers and air .conducting pipes being removed.

Fig.i3 s a top plan view ofthemale Fig. 4 is a side elevatioii thereof. I

Fig. 5 is atop plan view on an enlarged scale with a portion of the malev molding member, showin in dottedflines one `of the sections thereof y means of which one sheet of the fabiic'is formed.y j

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Filg. a

ig. .7 is an enlarged detail secti nail'4 View, of one of the air directin members carried by the male molding mem r.

IFig. 8 is a top plan view oithev saine.` Fig. 9 is a plan view` of .one sheet vof the completed fabric. f f

Referring to e drawings, the 4numeral 1 designates the ulp holding Ivat, `while 2 indicates the ma e mold` ymember*which is adapted to have both verticaland horizontal movements, the same being" supported by means of the flexible connections or chains 3 to the hooked end 4 of the piston of the pneumatic motor5 which is carried by the 20 truck 6 and supported bythe two 4beams 7 which constitute the main support ,forthcap aratus. A j

ountedv upon the upper face of the beams 7 is the reciprocatory motor'8, whose piston 9 is connected at Oppositelends to. thencables 10 and 10* whoseotherterminals areconnected to the lugs "11. and` 11y to the recipro; catory motor. 5, jsaidQcables being passed over the guidin pulleys 12 and 12 jour naled between e beams 7. Thus asv .the motor 8 isv operated, the truck 6 1s moved along the beams :7 .horizontally so thatthe male member 2mayb e moved from above the vat to a. oint above the :female Vmold.

member 1B, w ose guidin 'frails 4lvgare so vmounted as to 'permit o lthe dispositiontherebelow--of the casters orpulleys 14 care' ried by the male molding memberand the respective limiting.` lugs 13 .and'Q13 carried by the tracksl as illustratedin Figkl.

The frame 15 carries theo "n. auxiliaryi `'fframe 15 in which is, journale the longitu. dinally disposed shaft 16 which inturn'v car-v ries the female mold member18, the shaft 16 having attaehedthereto a handlcranlr4 17, by means of which the female 'mold member may be rotated \to entirely reversefits ition as shown in Fig. 1 so that the comp eted' molded fabric may. be emptied therefrom to 50 fall upon the conveyer 19. The ma'leand female mold-members-are constructed inthe present instance, toform atjaf sin le operation, a 'plurality of the matrices clearly; i shown .1n Fig. 9.' The entllcssconveyer" 19 A is mounted upon the power pulley 20 andthe*l guiding pulci-21 and a p ortion thereof'1 passeslithrou'g `the desiccating 'or drying chamber 22 l so thatj'when the-*articles are' delivered Lattlie end thereoffas illustrated in Fig. 2, he fabricated material is completely dried and is ready for` use. In order that air mayrbe supplied to Voperate thejrespectivemotors and 8, the twosupply pipes 23and 24, having mounted therein the manually controlled valves 25"'vv .26, are Provided. The valve 25 controls the supply and exhaust of the air through the pi es 27 and 28 to the cylinder 5 while the va ve 26 controls the supply and exhaust ofthe air to the cylinder 8. l'Thus an operator standing upon the platform 55 has complete-contro the valves 25 vandp26; and

tween it landthe surface of thecasting 43,

the main' chamber 40, there being. a plurality.

the valve v53, the purpose o'f which will later of chambers 44, formed by the respectivev- VH ang'es 4l. and 42 projecting/fromfthe underA lsulefof the plate or casting'43, .which are Iin communicatlon with the chamber 44 throu h the port45. This chamber 44 is sealed y the plate 46, which carries a lurality -of vair inlet and air directing funne s 47, the detail of Svch is clearly shown in Figs. 7T and 8..,v

ing the lower end ofthe chamber 44- below 4.the 'partition or wall 46, is v1 -perfothe `present .instance is formed with, a plurality of cup shaped members 49 whichl pro-` du the cup shped portions 330i theA complated fabric*` with the jilentilating1 vre- .rated molding fabric or.'sheet'4 8,`wh1ch'in l35 compressed in the-"flat surface 34 thereof, or as particularly shown in Fig.' 9. \`The'female member 18, as clearly shown in Fig. 6, -is provided with a plurality of recessed portions 32 disposed to receive `-the perforated cup shaped members 49 ofthe V10o male member, said ffemale member. being further provided with ther/recessed lportions 86 which carryv the flat springs 37 which -in turn receive thev projectm ribs k510i the male member to cushion t e vaction thereof y as the male memberfengages the female said' springs .imparting a= sli htseparating 'member at the primary'molding operationx movement V'to the male-mem r, 'it having been determined in practice v1one'thirty-seelond of an 1nh,fthe

purpose ofwhich will later aplicanw Y f 'Carried by' the male'meniber are 'api-uf sure the pro er registration uof the maleand'v .female mem rs when thel male memberis lowered down into contactwith the female member.. The `male molding f* member or sheet- 48 is attac edto the 4'luider surface 'of the male @pldng member'b'y means o f the' screwsf50," hich m'turn'falso secure the ribs 51 'to the underl surfacel of 'the male member,

'rality gif-:guiding lugs or a'rms 38 which iny orde 1t "at air maybe supplied "to-and Y removedv o 'the chamber "40 and consciy The suction is employed, `when the male member 2 is inthe position ,;as shown in Flg. l, and'i'sl lowered4 into'the vat so. that 'the fabric receivin portion 4 8 thereof vvillbe 5 submerged. 'us the suction' action will cause the pulp to Aadhere to the surface thereof, so that when `the malemember is elevated tothe position as shown in Fig. 1 and moved to the position to be Vabove',nd' to .to finallyA registerV with the female 'molding member as viewed in Fig. I6, that the material will be properly compressed therebetween to finally produce the fabric, as illustrated in Fig. 9. I

It has been found in-practice,.that itis' a .di.ili'cult\matte`r to'separate the cup shaped portion 33 of the'fabricate'd material upon the exterior surface of the cup members 40 of the male mold; various methods' of prying and pulling have been resorted to with onl 4 fair results.

ith the present invention the lair is directed sc as' to i'mpingeth'e Walls of the inner vsurface' of the cup-shaped portion 49 ofthe 2 5 fabric molding portion ofthe moldythe male member having been elevated only a short distancelfrom the female member; it having beenfpredetermined in practice that one y. thirty-second of anl inch' is s'ufficiei'it,` so that I the', fabric is 'readily loosenedffrom the' ymale Amember and will fall by gravityninto the female member. It has also been found that the airipressurefmust be so regulated that \too great'pressure will be avoided. In orderV to accomplish this, in' the upper. end of `ea'cl'iagir directing member orfunnel 47 there is provided an opening 57 in which is mounted loosely and forI sliding movement, the stem 58carrying'upon its lower endj 'the airf deiecting'disk 59 which is disposed to be in close proximit Atol the -inner wall` off the funelmember 4 to cause Vthe air blast to be directed along the Walls thereof to finally impinge at a point sub stantially in line ytherevvthor as indicated bythe arrows in Fig, and atrvvhich point the air.' passesv through the erforations, of the cup shaped member 4 9,- o themale mold and fabric to be slightly separated outwardly 'therefroml and 'out' of contact therewith sothat when Vthe male .mold mern' ber is elevated and the pressure has been cut l oif, the `fabricated-material will remain 'in `the female mold. .-1

' In order tofregulate the amount of air passing in this manner through the directing member 47, there is 'attached to the u per end `of rthe Vstem 58 above the member 417, a disk valveO, the same being perforated-at above the ail# directingy member47. Thus when the air pressure. 1s too great, the disk 59 is moved downwardl by the pressure and 623 seats the disk 60 upon e top 56 t0 close the l Fig. l, andI consequently .pl'aceitllelm 6l to be tfrried upon the members of the-V frame 62 which is attached to and extended opening 57 therethrough'so that the air s ure is cut offl from passing through the air".

directing member 47S,- "lniorderf 'miiihtai-li`- thedisk 59 and thef'disk 60 in nehtrialflmsif non @with the-disk out n femaagrfwili the inner Wall of the air directingunenrber 47 and the disk 60 abovel andout of Contact.

Withthe to'p '5'6`,y the balancing iifin'g (33,;as illustrated in Fig. 7 is' 'employe' glnfoidel to limit the' upward 'movement' of the fdisk 60 and thereby'prevont lthe vdisk '59 from closing the air directing member ik device is being operated by suction',- thief-lim'- i'ting'means 64' is disposed 'fin the" path thereof. f "'i In order that theY presentinventionmayhbe Y'more completely 'understood 'the' 4.op'eration of forming fabricated` material from lztha pulp, Which'may be a wood pulp orzaf'newspa er pulp',vwill be fully set forth. f y resupposing that theimalc member fhas .sented Within the vat l -wth the .fiber-freL -ceiving portion of the malo `memiier.sub.- merged, the valve 1s movedftsothat'the suction pipe 52 is placed in;eon'nnunication E beingperforatem.thelpul isgeausedtofadhere to -thegouter surface 't ereof-. 'lhe suction valve r53 is now, `or maybe closed?- the mold has beenslightlywithdravmgthe valve f 25 being operated as `tp -cause the -jlmotor 5 to elevatejthe-,mold 2 which assumes .pulleys or casters'l inaenga' ementvvithlthe' rails 13, With the parts in ty iis positionthe vvalve 26 is'operatedso as to causethe truck' 6 to be moved from Aleft to, right, 4as .v v

le m 2 in ythevposition directly abovethV fe ale v'mold 18K. .The valuejsmov'v iid the valve esmanipulatedm peut uit@ y Iefrtter tor 5.10. lewer'ifh @elem-01d? Se operating;` members thereof movement to holdp the male meiberfsepa; i

bricated causing air pressure instead of the suction' a tion` within the chamber 40, and `air is forced through the respective ports 45 to' 130- the air directing members 47 which in turn direct lthe air outwardly and against the inner surface of 'each of the respective cu shaped portions 49 ofthe malemoldl atvsuc a-point as to not suddenlyfbut easily remove the 4fabricated material from the exterior surface of the male mold andas it has such a short distance tom'ove, one thirty-second of an inch, the same. is permittedvto rest within the female mold member, so that the instant thevalve 53 is moved to neutral, and the air'pressure is cut off, the valve 25 may be again operated to elevate the mold 1 member while the motor 8 ivill also be operf ated to return Vit to the position, as shown lin Fig. 1. With the parts in this position,

vthe handle 17- is now manipulated to impart a hal'rotationto tli'e female mold member 18, causing the full release of the l:fabricated .201 material which fallsby gravity,y with the Y cup shaped portions 33 upwardly, torest upon the conveyer belt '19. 'Asthe belt is moving. at a slowspeed, the material `is-not injured. and isfinall passed through the drying drum 22 and 1s de1ivered in a thor@V openend, a flared nozzle peningvinto-said ortionthereof, and means Within the end 40" nozz e'fo'r directing Vair under pressure along the wall of the flared'nozzle and against' the -foraininous mbld adjacent the open end thereof 4and ii the direction of theothekr end .ofthe mold. Y ,f a v 3. A' m o 1din apparatus'including a vat, a4 receiving mo d, a hollow foraminous mold havingan open endand-insertible into the .-va't, means o r creating a suction through the ioraminous mold to cause pulp to adhere v v to said foraminos mold rwhilein and while Vmoving from: 'the vat,1 meansfor lowering iting the flovvl of air underpreure there through. toward `the mold. In testimony that I .claim the foregoingt'r fthe foraminous mold into the receiving mold during the maintenance ,of suction, and

'means for successively stopping the suction and directing air undervpressure -into the open end of the foraminous mold and against the'wall of the mold adjacent saidt end fandto'vvard4 the other end of the mold: to stri the molded object into the receiving mol 4. A molding apparatus includingua 6o ceiving mold, a hollow foraminous mold, means for creating a suction'through the' foraminous mold to cause pulp t adhere thereto while the-mold is in transit, and a.

means for reversing the air pressure in the- B51' foraminousj mold to 4strip the molded object therefrom' and into the receiving mold,- said -meaninclud'ing a flared nozzle opening into one end portion of the foram'nous'mold and means within the ynozzle for d irectin air 7# under pressure along the wall of the aredz nozzle andagainst the oraminous mold at one'end thereof and in the direction-of the other endof the mold.

` 5. A molding apparatus, including a ma' 7d terial holding vat, a male mold'mounted for movement linto -and above the vat and for horizontal" movement therefrom a pivotallymounted female molding mem er disposed to coperate with-themalefmoldng Eff member and ,for receiving the molded material from the male molding membenconf veying means for receiving themldcd lilaterial from thefemal'e molding member', means for drying vthematerial in transitq {1T-e5 6, A molding a paratus, including'fa male and a female mol the male mold beingbol low Zand provided with a perforated receivl ing surface,.an air directing means mounted y f in the-y mold for directing. the air 'to and 99v vfrom the perforated portion, and means mounted-in the air directing means for-lilik as myV-own, I have hereto aflixed 'my s1gna- -tur'e in the presence of two witnesses;

HARRY.; THOMPSON]v p Witnesses: A

R. J. Howr.,

-LnoromfLowENsrmn 

